Plato said:
A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.
A state arises, as I conceive, out of the needs of mankind; no one is self-sufficing, but all of us have many wants.
Our object in the construction of the state is the greatest happiness of the whole, and not that of any one class.
Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.
States are as the men, they grow out of human characters.
All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue.
Entire ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being the greatest of all; too much cleverness and too much learning, accompanied with ill bringing-up, are far more fatal.
He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.
Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.
If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.
If particulars are to have meaning, there must be universals.
Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.
Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.
Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.
Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.
All things will be produced in superior quantity and quality, and with greater ease, when each man works at a single occupation, in accordance with his natural gifts, and at the right moment, without meddling with anything else.
Apply yourself both now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, You cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation.
Attention to health is life's greatest hindrance.
Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.
Courage is a kind of salvation.
Courage is knowing what not to fear.
Cunning... is but the low mimic of wisdom.
Death is not the worst that can happen to men.
Democracy passes into despotism.
Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.
Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments.
Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.
For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.
For good nurture and education implant good constitutions.
Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.
Injustice is censured because the censures are afraid of suffering, and not from any fear which they have of doing injustice.
Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.
Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns.
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.
No one ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.
The curse of me and my nation is that we always think things can be bettered by immediate action of some sort, any sort rather than no sort.
The beginning is the chiefest part of any work.
There is no harm in repeating a good thing.
The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom.
The measure of a man is what he does with power.
This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are.
Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
When a Benefit is wrongly conferred, the author of the Benefit may often be said to injure. [While the term BAILOUT may not have featured in Ancient Greece, this quote is deemed relevant and cautionary to our Dear Congress.]
This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.
When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.
Your silence gives consent.
Necessity... the mother of invention.
He was a wise man who invented beer.
